Dear America

Dear America,

Stop acting so shocked that some 70 year-old, white guy from Queens is racist.

(Especially as he's said and done a zillion racist things to date.)

Great Moments in Black History Month

They want all brown people out

"Ethnic Cleansing" via Atrios (2/3/17):

It's what they're trying to do, and I get livid when people respond with "wahh wah you're minimizing the real episodes of ethnic cleansing in history." No, I'm doing my best to put a stop to yet another incident. They want all the brown people out, especially but not just Muslims, and they'll use whatever authority they can to do it. They didn't just prevent new people from coming in, they tried to prevent legal long term residents (green card holders) from returning. They've revoked who knows how many existing student and H1-B visas. Again, not just new arrivals or even people trying to re-enter, but revoking the legal status of people already here - people who have invested time and money in education and careers. Those people can be declared in violation, and even if they aren't being deported momentarily, they will be unable to return due for years or ever due to visa violation they weren't even aware they had made. Employers will have workers who have no right to work here - again, unknown to them. Families will continue to be ripped apart.

WhiteLash

Kneel With Woodland Hills

Via Facebook:

Woodland Hills will be playing their first game in the playoffs at home this Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 6:30pm. We ask that you come and support these young men at their game and kneel with them in solidarity and support of their stand against police brutality. 

During their last game against Bethel Park, the Woodland Hills 12U (12 years old and under) team had the resolve to kneel in protest against police brutality during the national anthem as modeled by the San Francisco 49ers Quaterback, Colin Kaepernick. Their action was met with racial slurs from audience memeber and the Bethel Park team, the consession stand attendants refusing to serve the Woodland Hills guests, and the referees making several bad calls on the field against Woodland Hills. In the face of such pressing adversity, WH still managed a 20-6 win against Bethel Park, however the affects of what happened that day are lasting. 

We stand in support of these young men and their coach, Marcus Burkley Sr., for their integrity. We also seek justice and action from the Municipality of Bethel Park as well as the Parkway Youth Football League to reprimand the actors in this event as well as adopting policy that ensures that racially charged violence such as that displayed at Bethel Park will not go without reprecussion that matches the damage that it causes. 

We hope that you will stand with us and these young men this Sunday and #KneelWithWoodlandHills 

News:  

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Racial-slurs-heard-when-youth-football-team-takes-a-knee.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/13/crowd-shouts-racial-slurs-at-all-black-youth-football-team-when-some-players-kneel-during-anthem-coach-says/ 

http://www.wpxi.com/news/tensions-escalate-at-youth-football-game-after-some-players-kneel-during-national-anthem/456133237

Kneel With Woodland Hills
Where: Sunday, October 23, 2016, 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
When: The Wolvarena High School, Lynn Avenue, Turtle Creek, PA 15145

Progress is on the ballot

New ad:

Wendy Bell To Fox News CEO: "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Ailes!"

With reverse discrimination lawsuit and new blonde 'do in tow,

Wendy Bell readies for an audition with FOX News (we assume).

Inside the Mind of Wendy Bell (UPDATE)

Pittsburgh's WTAE News anchor Wendy Bell majorly stepped in it when she decided to profile the yet unknown killers of the March 9 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg by stringing together a bunch of stereotypical racist insults on her Facebook page. She then contrasted them with a virtually tap-dancing Mr. Bojangles, Jr. version of a young man who happened to be busing tables at a restaurant where Miz Wendy was eating with her family. 

The post was so disgusting, that she received a great deal of push-back. Then came the inevitable blocking of people and removal of comments, and, eventually, some editing of the original post*. It's led to a "Demand WTAE Hold Wendy Bell Accountable" Facebook campaign and a Post-Gazette article. But the best analysis comes from Damon Young at verysmartbrothas.com. Here's a taste, but please, read the whole article:

There are so many layers and layers and layers to Bell’s abject obliviousness to how racist this is; all made clear by the fact that she thought it was fine to print it. She’s practically a White privilege lasagna caught in the throat of a White privilege turducken. 

[snip] 

Seriously, read this scribbled-on-some-toilet-paper-at-a-Hallmark-factory-bathroom bullshit again. And think about the state of mind that allows someone to juxtapose that awful tragedy with a night at the Cheesecake Factory. As if there’s any connection between the two besides the race of the server and the race of the victims. And, I don’t know, the fact that they’re both made out of space dust.

* To read her original version of the post, click on the arrow in the upper right corner and hit "View edit history."

UPDATE: In an AP story at ABC News (WTAE is an ABC affiliate), Wendy Bell gave a pro forma apology. The entire Facebook post has been removed.

Privilege

Can we say that part (though certainly not all) of why people think Bernie is "authentic" is because he doesn't appear or sound polished, BUT:

• If a white woman yelled a lot, wore ill-fitting clothes and had unkempt hair, people would call her "crazy"

• If a black woman did that, people would call her "angry" 

• And if a black man did that, people would call him "dangerous"

Only a white man can get away with that.

Hell, it can even become a positive meme for him:

The Company Metcalfe Keeps, Part II

Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl "I Don't Speak Mexican" Metcalfe (R-Pennsyltucky) is more 'Merican than you or I could ever hope to be! The man sweats red, white & blue! He's always busy keeping 'Merica for 'Mericans! His latest efforts occurred on Monday when according to Eat That, Read This (#275):

• Distended scumtroll Republican State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, chairman of the House State Government Committee, denied colleague Rep. Leslie Acosta, "herself an immigrant and the state's only Latina legislator," her allotted speaking time as she "attempted to lay out her argument" against the shiteous English-only bill, interrupting her and then cutting off her microphone. Metcalfe, who is a white, straight, Christian human-shaped agglomeration of dog shit animatronically operated by a groundhog, used the same tactic against another minority colleague in 2013, when Gay Fantasy Boyfriend™ State Rep. Brian Sims attempted to speak "about the Supreme Court's gay marriage rulings," informing us that "his religious views against gay marriage compelled him to do it." Fuck Daryl Metcalfe.

But, True Patriot Metcalfe is even more 'Merican than stopping Latinas from speaking. According to Talking Points Memo, Metcalfe invited a white supremacist white nationalist to be a witness for his bill on Monday:

A Pennsylvania lawmaker objected to accusations that he had invited a white supremacist to testify in front of a committee by clarifying that the witness was merely a white nationalist. 

The witness, Robert "Bob" Vandervoort, appeared at a hearing Monday on a bill to make English the official state language, the Patriot-News reported, prompting state Rep. Leslie Acosta (D) to allege that the committee had invited a white supremacist. 

[snip]

The Southern Poverty Law Center has described Vandervoort as being tied "to white nationalist groups." But, as the Patriot-News noted, the center characterizes white nationalist groups as espousing "white supremacist or white separatist ideologies." 

Metcalfe also said, "For whoever said the man was white to begin with, that person was actually the racist -- tying his skin color to his patriotism and what he stands up for for his country."

Yes, you say "to-may-toe" and I say "to-mah-toe" and Metcalfe says pointing out racism is racist!

And why is this post titled "Part II"? Because when Metcalfe is not busy inviting white supremacists white nationalists to speak (and shutting up Latinas and Gays), he is cavorting with people who call for elected Democrats to swing from ropes.

In 2010, he invited Jeff Lewis, national director, Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition (FIRE), to stand with him at a press conference to promote PA House Bill 2479 which patterned itself after Arizona's controversial "Papers, Please" legislation. Here's the type of thing that Lewis writes:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other Members of Congress ignore the Constitution on a daily basis, and knowingly give support and comfort to special interest groups, foreign governments and the illegal alien insurgents they encourage to invade the United States, and betray everything their oath of office represents. Ask your governor, your federal and state judges why these traitors aren’t swinging from a rope? [Emphasis added]

God Bless 'Merica! God Bless Pennsyltucky! And God Bless Daryl Metcalfe!

The Jack Kelly "US Slavery Was Bad, But..." Monument

Yet another great read on this here: http://verysmartbrothas.com/jack-kelly-of-the-pittsburgh-post-gazette-is-a-fucking-disgrace-and-probably-needs-to-get-fired/

A 2 Political Junkies Proclamation

WHEREAS, on July 21st, the Huffington Post declared that "The Song Of Summer Is Dead," as it being more than halfway through July and yet, no Song of Summer has emerged as a contender for that title; and, 

WHEREAS, people need a Song of Summer to get us through these cruel months; and,

WHEREAS, recent promotional videos for the City of Pittsburgh--ranging from Time Magazine's business-oriented tribute, to The New York Time's trendy view, to the AMPD Group's barftastic cheesefest--have been very, very, very white/and very, very, very male/for the male gaze; and,

WHEREAS, Adam Shuck's EAT THAT, READ THIS (subscribe already!) has come across a piece--Pittsburgh! Then & Now by DJ Icey White--that comments on the lacking-in-diversity promos of the City of Pittsburgh in a musical manner.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2 Political Junkies blog does hereby recognize Pittsburgh! Then & Now and DJ Icey White for promoting and preserving the very, very, very whiteness/malesness of the City of Pittsburgh in a satirical, musical form worthy of the title of Song of Summer.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the 2 Political Junkies blog does hereby declare July 25th, 2015 to be “Pittsburgh! Then & Now and DJ Icey White Day” in the City of Pittsburgh and further declares Pittsburgh! Then & Now to be the "Song of Summer" in the City of Pittsburgh.

Sponsored by Maria of 2 Political Junkies 

In Blogger, July 24th, 2015

Question

Question: Are the other GOP presidential candidates more happy or sad today? Happy because Trump's comments slamming McCain for being "captured" in Vietnam make them all look less extreme? Or, sad because his racist comments about Mexicans are going to lose the few Latino voters the Republicans had?

Call it what it is

We already knew Wednesday night shortly after the killings at the historic African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, SC--the oldest AME church in the south--that the act was committed by a young white man against nine African Americans. Only someone who hadn't lived in this country for more than five minutes wouldn't have had it cross their mind that the attack was racially motivated. Later that same evening, it was already being labeled a "hate crime" by authorities. And yet, by the next morning, Fox & Friends was already pushing the idea that the crime was an attack on Christians and Christianity (and the solution was more guns in churches--but more about that later).

Still later that morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on "The View" said, "There are people out there looking for Christians to kill them." Another GOP presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, jumped on the bandwagon, calling it part of a broader assault on "religious liberty" in America. And, Congressman Mark Sanford (R-SC) was all over the TV as slippery as a greased pig refusing to say the new R-word (racism)--alternately describing the attack as the Devil's work or trying to get out of explaining why the Confederate flag still flies in front of South Carolina state capitol.

Meanwhile, America had long heard the words uttered by shooting suspect Dylann Roof:

When a man pleaded with him to stop, the shooter replied, "You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go," she said. 

A law enforcement official says witnesses told authorities the gunman stood up and said he was there "to shoot black people."

But it wasn't just politicians pushing this anything-but-race "alternative" theory of the crime. Comment after comment on articles and Facebook posts and other social media had average Joe's and Jane's--well, white ones anyway--earnestly insisting that the murders were due solely to mental illness, or attacks on religion, or incredibly whining "why was it being made about race" or "why am I being called a racist" when nobody had called them that in the first place.

The sheer will it must take to wonder "why this happened," or to subscribe alternate motives, or to gloss over the racial aspect of this when the POS who did it was absolutely clear why he murdered nine black people is astounding.

(The usually smart Amy Poehler's Smart Girls initially being pretty clueless which

they thankfully rethought here by linking to Charles P. Pierce's great article in "Esquire.")

Besides what he said himself, this is the same man who proudly displayed Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa flags on his jacket, a Confederate flag license plate on his car, whose friends admitted he was a racist, and whose racist views were apparently spilled all over his social media postings, and who drove hundreds of miles to go to an historic black church to murder black people.

This was first and foremost about race (so stop "wondering"). It was a deliberate attack on black bodies. And, yes, while it did occur in a church, it was not about religion:

It was also an act of terror. As Crooks & Liars pointed out, "The New York Times" tried to warn us just one day before this attack:

The main terrorist threat in the United States is not from violent Muslim extremists, but from right-wing extremists. Just ask the police. 

... 

An officer from a large metropolitan area said that “militias, neo-Nazis and sovereign citizens” are the biggest threat we face in regard to extremism. One officer explained that he ranked the right-wing threat higher because “it is an emerging threat that we don’t have as good of a grip on, even with our intelligence unit, as we do with the Al Shabab/Al Qaeda issue, which we have been dealing with for some time.” An officer on the West Coast explained that the “sovereign citizen” anti-government threat has “really taken off,” whereas terrorism by American Muslim is something “we just haven’t experienced yet.”

And, while this was about race, the accessory to these murders--to this act of terrorism--was our twisted gun culture and our refusal to stand up to it. From President Obama's statement:

I've had to make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. 

We don't have all the facts, but we do know that once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hand on a gun. 

Now is the time for mourning and for healing. But let's be clear. At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency.

And, from the "Washington Post":

Dylann Roof, the man accused of a shooting spree that left nine people dead at a historic black church in Charleston on Wednesday night, should not have been able to get a gun. 

Federal law prohibits people with pending felony charges from obtaining firearms. In February, Roof was arrested and later charged with felony possession of Suboxone, a narcotic prescription drug. He was released, and the case is pending. 

Because of his criminal record, Roof would not have been able to buy a gun from a store. Federally licensed gun dealers are required to run background checks on gun purchasers, and Roof’s pending charges should have turned up as a red flag. 

But Roof didn’t need to go to a dealership. According to his uncle, Roof received a .45-caliber pistol from his father in April for his birthday, Reuters reports.

And, lastly, this: 

In case you can't tell, that sticker on the newspaper is an ad for a gun shop...

In case you're interested, full ACDC Endorsement List is here

First, a few notes on the Allegheny County Democratic Committee endorsement vote which was held yesterday.

Certainly the ACDC stamp of approval no longer holds the sway it once did. Candidates can win their elections without it and some no longer even seek the endorsement (see Mayor Bill Peduto).

The biggest headline to come out of the vote was the nod to Mark Patrick Flaherty over sitting incumbent Chelsa Wagner for Allegheny County Controller. Flaherty was Wagner's predecessor, and, because this is Allegheny County/Pittsburgh, Flaherty is the son of a former county commissioner and nephew of a former Pittsburgh mayor, while Wagner is the daughter of a former longtime chairman of the 19th Ward and niece of a former state auditor general. Meh.

And, while I'm no big fan of Wagner's, did the vote against her have to come on International Women's Day? Which just points to the fact that out of the 34 people ACDC endorsed, only eight were women.

This also leads to the following note from Kris Rust posted on Facebook by his husband, Pittsburgh Magisterial District Judge Hugh McGough, who did not win endorsement for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas:

This weekend, the Allegheny County Labor Council and the Allegheny County Democratic Committee endorsed a slate of three straight, white men from the Pittsburgh suburbs as judicial candidates for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, passing over distinguished women and minority candidates, including Hugh (yes, LGBT people comprise a minority group). 

The integrity and legitimacy of our government and our courts depends upon them reflecting the diversity of our citizenry. Yet, two-thirds of the judges on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas are straight, white men. While we are grateful to all of the folks who have supported Hugh throughout this endorsement process, I am disappointed that the majority of Labor Council and Democratic Committee members fail to recognize the value and importance of superlative credentials and diversity on the bench. Now I am ready to “rage against the machine!”

(If you'd like to help Hugh McGough's campaign--and I hope you do--his website is here.)

Another person who I would have liked to have been endorsed is Natalia Rudiak (though I have to admit that I don't know if she sought the endorsement). Rudiak is running for Pittsburgh City Controller and the only negative thing I can say about her is I would miss her on City Council. Her campaign website is here and her kickoff party is tomorrow.

Lastly, I hope that no one reading this takes the slate cards mailed out too much to heart. It's a real shame, but I'm guessing that too many people do rely on them, especially when voting for judges.

(Endorsement list is after the fold.)

I appreciate

This being Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, I appreciate Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay for posing with this sign when it was offered to him and for not backing down despite all the ridiculous controversy. I also appreciate Mayor Bill Peduto for standing by him, as well as for hiring him in the first place.

Thank you.

"Brentwood Candlelight Vigil for All Victims of Police Brutality" Tonight

There will be a candlelight vigil tonight in Brentwood on behalf of victims of police brutality.

Via Facebook:

We are bringing it to Brentwood, where 19 years ago, black motorist Jonny Gammage was left dead after an altercation with FIVE suburban police officers, after which one of the officers involved was promoted to sergeant. Though not part of the City, Brentwood is a first-ring suburb and a powerful indicator of what is happening just outside of the City proper. To have a presence here would be meaningful. The site of the vigil is just a half block from the Brentwood Police Station and directly across the Brentwood Presbyterian Church. 

The fact is that a disproportionate number of African-American males are victims of police brutality. We don't want to erase victims who are female, or are Hispanic, White, Asian or any other nationality, but we will be focusing on the most imperiled group, which are young, African-American males. 

All are included and will be prayed for and remembered during this vigil and call to action that it MUST STOP. We will honor the names of as many victims as we can: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Jonny Gammage. The list is just too, too, long. 

If you attend and are active on social media, please use the hashtag: #blacklivesmatter. 

This event will take place on the sidewalks outside the Brentwood Medical Group building on Brownsville Road, which sits on top of a stop on the Underground Railroad: http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/what-can-you-tell-me-about-pittsburghs-role-in-the-underground-railroad/Content?oid=1334842   

There is parking along Brownsville Road and along side streets.

WHAT: "Brentwood Candlelight Vigil for All Victims of Police Brutality"
WHEN: Today, Tuesday, December 16th from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
WHERE: Brentwood Medical Group, 3720 Brownsville Rd, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15227

For more information, please see the Facebook event page here.

Pittsburgh Protest of the Ferguson Grand Jury Verdict Today @ 2:00 PM

More here

If it were 200+ white girls...

On Saturday, President Obama joked about CNN's obsessive coverage of missing plane MH370 and his trip to Malaysia, saying "The lengths we have to go to, to get CNN coverage these days. I think they're still searching for their table." The really sad joke is that if 200+ white girls had gone missing, we'd have wall-to-wall coverage on all stations and everyone would be clamoring for some type of action. US Secretary of State John Kerry did say on that same Saturday that 'Washington will do “everything possible” to help Nigeria deal with Boko Haram militants, following the kidnapping of scores of schoolgirls.'

If you think these girl's lives are as important as the typical single missing white woman/girl story that the media loves to obsess over, please attend today's rally:

Pittsburgh Women Rallying to #BringBackOURGirls 

When: Today (May, 5, 2014), 7:00 pm 

Where: Freedom Corner, Centre Ave. & Crawford Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (map)

Facebook Event Page: Here

Megyn Kelly is Dreaming of a White Christmas -- a really, really white Christmas

 

Fox News host Megyn Kelly on the shiny, clean, unassailable whiteness of Santa and Jesus (via Raw Story):

“For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white,” Kelly said. “But this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa. But Santa is what he is.”  

“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change, you know?” she added. “I mean, Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure, that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa — I just want the kids watching to know that.”